Genesis to Revelation: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther Leader Guide: A Comprehensive Verse-by-Verse Exploration of the Bible

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA

by Linda B. Hinton

The Book of Ezra continues the history of Israel begun in First and Second Chronicles. Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah were once one book. Second Chronicles 36:22-23 is duplicated in Ezra 1:1-3, indicating that the two were once part of the same book. In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah were grouped together under the title Ezra. Ezra is a variation on a Hebrew word that means help. Jerome, a fourth century Italian theologian, was the first to name the second part of this book Nehemiah.

The same type of Hebrew and the same literary style dominate all three books. They share an emphasis on worship in the Jerusalem Temple, on the purity of the Jewish community, and on devotion to God’s law. All came from the hand of the Chronicler, who wrote between 350 and 250 BC. Ezra and Nehemiah record the history of the Jews from the exiles’ return to Jerusalem (536–432 BC or 398/97 BC, depending on the date given for Ezra’s work). They tell of the restoration of the Jewish community in Palestine—the rebuilding of the city wall and the Temple, the renewal of the covenant, and the expulsion of non-Jews from the community. Some of this history is also found in the apocryphal Book of First Esdras.

Ezra and Nehemiah are our best history of the Jews from 538–432 BC, despite the fact that the Chronicler omitted information on the period from the completion of the Temple (515 BC) to Nehemiah’s return (445 BC). The prophetic books of Obadiah, Malachi, and Joel give us our only glimpses of this period in Jerusalem before Nehemiah and Ezra arrived. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah report the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple (520–515 BC).

The Chronicler’s sources of information for this history included biblical books, Temple documents, and biographies and autobiographies of Ezra and Nehemiah. The royal letters in Ezra 5:1-6 and 7:12-26 were written in Aramaic, the diplomatic language of the day.

The content of Ezra may be divided into two parts: (1) the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple, Ezra 1–6; and (2) the work of Ezra, Ezra 7–10 (concluded in Nehemiah 7:73–10:39). To be chronological, the story of Ezra’s work could be read as follows: (a) Ezra’s journey to Jerusalem (Ezra 7–8), (b) Ezra’s reading of the law (Nehemiah 8), (c) the rejection of all foreign wives of Jews (Ezra 9–10), and (d) the renewal of the covenant (Nehemiah 9). To the Chronicler, the religious significance of the events was more important than their exact sequence in time. In chapter 4 of Ezra, the Chronicler places material belonging to the time of Xerxes (486–465 BC) and Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC) between material from the time of Cyrus (550–530 BC) and Darius (522–486 BC).

The Chronicler says that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:7). The Chronicler also says that Nehemiah arrived in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes I, 445 BC. This writer treats Ezra and Nehemiah as contemporaries, inserting part of Nehemiah’s story (Nehemiah 1–7) into Ezra’s story (Ezra 7–10; Nehemiah 8–10). However, in Ezra 9:9, Ezra gives thanks to God that the Temple has been built and Jerusalem’s walls restored, indicating that Nehemiah’s reconstruction work had been completed.

Some ancient manuscripts indicate that Nehemiah returned first. This would mean that Ezra came to Jerusalem in 398 BC during the reign of Artaxerxes II (404–358 BC). Today there is no general agreement on whether Ezra preceded Nehemiah or followed him.

We know little about the man Ezra. He was a scribe and a priest. His story is told in the first person (Ezra 7:27–8:34; 9:1-5) and in the third person. He brought to Jerusalem from Babylon a copy of the Book of the Law of Moses (Nehemiah 8:1). This book was probably the Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy). Ezra helped to establish the Pentateuch as the authoritative rule for Jewish faith and practice in the postexilic Jerusalem community. For this he is known as the father of Judaism.

Ezra is credited with reinstituting the laws for worship and religious ceremonies and festivals. He was alarmed at the presence of foreign women (and their gods) in Jewish families, and he demanded that they be expelled from the community. He stood in the prophetic tradition by applying, in practical terms, the prophets’ call for a renewal of service to God.

Devotion to the law could and did lapse into legalism. However, Ezra’s work helped keep the Jews from being absorbed into the prevailing culture. His exclusivism helped create a worshiping community out of which would spring modern Judaism and Christianity.

Now these are the people of the province who . . . returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town. (2:1)

1

THE EXILES RETURN

Ezra 1–2

DIMENSION ONE: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Answer these questions by reading Ezra 1

1.What Persian king makes a proclamation? (1:1)

Cyrus makes a proclamation.

2.What does Cyrus say God wants him to do? (1:2)

God wants Cyrus to build a temple at Jerusalem.

3.What does Cyrus allow the people of God to do? (1:3)

The people of God are to go to Jerusalem and build the temple of the Lord.

4.What does Cyrus say the Jews who remain in Persia are to do? (1:4)

The remaining Jews are to assist those who are returning by giving them silver and gold, goods and livestock, and freewill offerings for the temple of God.

5.Who rises up to return to Jerusalem? (1:5)

The heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, the Levites, and everyone whose heart God has moved to go up to Jerusalem.

6.What do those not going to Jerusalem give to aid those who are going? (1:6)

They give them articles of gold and silver, goods, livestock, valuable gifts, and freewill offerings.

7.What does Cyrus bring out to give to those returning to Jerusalem? (1:7)

Cyrus brings out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his god.

8.To whom does Cyrus have Mithredath give these vessels? (1:8)

Mithredath gives them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

Answer these questions by reading Ezra 2

9.Where do the people go when they return to Judah? (2:1)

They go to Jerusalem, and each person to his or her own town.

10.What category of people does Ezra enumerate first? (2:2)

Ezra enumerates the men of the people of Israel first.

11.What group of people does Ezra enumerate next? (2:36)

The priests are enumerated second.

12.What is the third group Ezra enumerates? (2:40)

The Levites are the third group.

13.What other groups does Ezra list? (2:41, 42, 43, 55)

The singers, the gatekeepers of the Temple, the Temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants are listed.

14.What is different about the people Ezra mentions next? (2:59)

They cannot prove whether or not they are Israelites.

15.What happens to those who claim to be sons of the priests, but cannot prove they are? (2:61-62)

They are excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

16.The governor says these priests may eat the holy food when? (2:63)

These priests can eat the holy food only after a priest consults the Urim and Thummim.

17.Why do some of the heads of families make freewill offerings? (2:68)

They make offerings so they can build the house of God on its site.

DIMENSION TWO: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN?

Background. Several books have been attributed to Ezra. The names (or the numbers) of these books have caused confusion. The question may never arise in your group, but it would be well for you to have the matter clear in your mind in case it does.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book. They were still together when the Septuagint, an early Greek translation, was made in the third and second centuries BC. In the Septuagint, Ezra-Nehemiah is called Esdras b and the apocryphal book we know as First Esdras is called Esdras a. The book known as Second Esdras had not yet been written.

By the time the Vulgate version (a Latin translation) was made by Saint Jerome near the end of the fourth century AD, Ezra and Nehemiah had been separated from each other; they are called in this version First Esdras and Second Esdras respectively, while the books that we know as First Esdras and Second Esdras in the Apocrypha are called Third Esdras and Fourth Esdras. (The Vulgate was immensely influential, and became the authoritative version for the Roman Catholic Church.) Portions of Fourth Esdras circulated separately, and became known as Fifth Esdras and Sixth Esdras. At the time of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther dropped Third and Fourth Esdras from the Bible, and referred to Second Esdras as Nehemiah because of the opening words of that book.

The confusion created by all these terminology changes exists today. Therefore, when we speak of First Esdras or Second Esdras, we need to indicate which First Esdras or Second Esdras we mean. In this study, we shall refer to the biblical books as Ezra and Nehemiah, and to the apocryphal books as First Esdras and Second Esdras.

Ezra 1:14. The proclamation of Cyrus is found in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and 1 Esdras 2:1-7, as well as here. The proclamation is found in a slightly different form in Ezra 6:3-5.

Ezra 1:1. Ezra gives God the credit for stirring up the spirit of Cyrus to allow the Jews to go home. So also does Second Isaiah (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1, 13).

Jeremiah’s prophecy that Ezra refers to is either (a) the defeat of Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11-12), (b) the promise of a return to Jerusalem for the Jews (Jeremiah 29:10), or (c) the rebuilding of the city (Jeremiah 31:38), or perhaps all three.

Ezra 1:3. We know from Cyrus’s own writings (on what is known as the Cyrus Cylinder) that he allowed the captives of other nations to return to their homes.

Ezra 1:4. The meaning of this passage is not absolutely clear. Survivors would seem to mean all those Jews who had survived the ravages of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 36:20), and had survived the captivity in Babylon. In that case, all the Jews would be returning to Jerusalem, and the people in any locality who were asked to help finance the trip would be the Babylonians. But why would Cyrus require the Babylonians to finance the Jews’ trip? And why would the Jews return to Jerusalem? Some had prospered while in Babylon, as Jeremiah had advised them to do (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7). The prospect of starting all over in Jerusalem would not appeal to them. Probably, therefore, the wealthy Jews who were staying in Babylon were asked to help finance the trip of those poorer Jews who were returning to Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:6. The Hebrew expression here translated assisted them is more literally translated as strengthened their hands (as in the King James Version). The term usually means gave encouragement to. See, for example, Isaiah 35:3-4; Nehemiah 6:9.

Ezra 1:8. The participant book identifies Sheshbazzar with Shenazzar (1 Chronicles 3:18), and this identification is probably correct. If so, Zerubbabel would be Sheshbazzar’s nephew. For three reasons, however, some believe that Sheshbazzar is to be identified with Zerubbabel: (1) Both Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel are depicted as the leader of the people (Ezra 1:11; 3:2). Sheshbazzar drops out of the picture after chapter 1, and Zerubbabel is suddenly the leader with no introduction or explanation. (2) Both men are given credit for having laid the foundation of the Temple (Ezra 5:16; Zechariah 4:9; Ezra 3:8; 5:2). (3) Both men are spoken of as the governor of Judah (Ezra 5:14; Haggai 1:1, 14; 2:2, 21).

The probable explanation of this confusion is that both men led groups back to Jerusalem, but at different times. Both men worked on the Temple, and both men served as governor. If we are correct in identifying Sheshbazzar with Shenazzar, then he would have been fifty-nine or sixty years of age when he returned to Jerusalem in 539 BC. Work began on the Temple about 520 BC. Both he and his younger nephew, Zerubbabel, could have laid the foundation, and he shortly thereafter could have turned over the governorship to